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If your FDIC-insured bank or trust is contemplating submitting an application to the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2019 funding round for the Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA Program), you may find the following information helpful as you plan.
The CDFI Fund anticipates opening the FY 2019 BEA Program application round in late-April 2019.
As we move toward the second half of 2019, I wanted to take a moment to provide an update on our progress, and to reflect upon some of our recent accomplishments.
Many American small businesses began as good ideas born out of necessity and were then grown out of home offices or garages. The Mountaineer Brand small business is no exception. While growing a beard may seem like a natural and simple thing, in reality it isn?t. Growing and maintaining a well-groomed beard requires the use of products that reduce skin irritation and ensure healthy facial hair. In response to this need, Eric Young developed a natural beard oil in his kitchen. His own luxurious beard soon became the best advertisement for his product.
In 2005, the only bank branch that served the Metlakatla Indian Community in Alaska closed. An island community only accessible by boat or float plane, Metlakatla was left without a way to easily access basic financial services. Community employees struggled to cash payroll checks through their Tribal government office, which typically ran out of cash well before the last person was served; likewise a local ATM machine would run out of cash within hours of being reloaded. There was a great need for a financial institution in the community.
New Markets Tax Credits Help Museums Increase Community Impact
FEBRUARY 28, 2019
Historically, museums have been defined as buildings where objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited. But, many museums have evolved into education centers that actively engage with surrounding communities (...)
CDFIs Help Make Manufactured Housing Affordable for America
JULY 09, 2019
Homeownership has always been a major part of the "American Dream."? While conventional site-built housing has become out of reach for many Americans, manufactured housing has made homeownership attainable for many low- and moderate-income families priced (...)
Historically, museums have been defined as buildings where objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited. But, many museums have evolved into education centers that actively engage with surrounding communities (including those that are underserved) to provide hands-on educational experiences and cultural enrichment that would not otherwise be available.
Jeff Merkowitz is Senior Advisor to CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris and brings over two decades of both policy and direct, on the ground experience in the areas of housing finance and community development. He previously served as Director of Operations and Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, where he was responsible for crafting the Senator's policy responses to both the foreclosure crisis and the longstanding shortage of affordable housing in California. His work for the Senator to expand refinancing opportunities led to over 2 million struggling homeowners being able to refinance their mortgages at historically low rates, and he led efforts in the Senate to push the Federal Housing Finance Agency to fund the Housing Trust Fund and Capital Magnet Fund.
Prior to his time in the Senate, Merkowitz served as the Chief Financial Officer for Opportunity Fund, a certified CDFI. There he created the financial infrastructure to manage over $25 million in lending programs for affordable housing development and small businesses, as well as receive and distribute $50 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations, and developed key partnerships with local and national banks. While in California, he also was a director on the board of InnVision, the largest homeless services provider in the South Bay.
Additionally, Merkowitz served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica, where he organized local women's groups to start up small businesses and provided assistance to rural communities with small development projects such as bridges, roads, health posts, and potable water projects. He is a graduate of Princeton University and earned a MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
As the new Director of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund), I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead an organization with such a strong history of facilitating investment and lending in distressed and underserved communities across the country.
It is also particularly exciting to be part of the CDFI Fund team again. I have worked with the CDFI Fund in various capacities over the last 12 years, and I know firsthand the dedication and talent the CDFI Fund staff bring to their jobs each day. I am proud to contribute to this important work!
Director Annie Donovan has deep roots in community development and finance. She was most recently Chief Executive Officer of CoMetrics, a social enterprise that provides high quality, affordable business intelligence tools to small businesses and nonprofits seeking to improve financial management, better measure social impact, and increase their capacity for innovation.
Prior to CoMetrics, Director Donovan was Senior Policy Advisor to the White House, working collaboratively with the Office of Social Innovation and the Council on Environmental Quality. She was part of a team focused on advancing impact investing, social enterprise and impact data as key strategies for improving the social sector. Donovan has been Chief Operating Officer of Capital Impact Partners, a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) where she was instrumental in creating the high performing teams and strategic plans that positioned Capital Impact as a market leader in the areas of education, health care, long terms care and affordable homeownership finance. She led the company's efforts to build capacity in fundraising, policy, and innovation.
Director Donovan has also been a thought leader and a board member of many of the highest performing organizations in the community development sector, including serving as President of the New Markets Tax Credit Coalition. She has published papers and articles for the National Academy for Public Administration, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Forbes, and the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. She has an undergraduate degree in Economics and an MBA in Finance.
NOVEMBER 05, 2018
Thank you for the kind introduction, Jim. Thank you Lisa Mensah and the OFN Board of Directors for the invitation to join you this afternoon. It's great to be here in Chicago, a town steeped in community development history! It's always a pleasure to (...)
Keynote Address by Director Annie Donovan at the 2016 CDFI Coalition Institute
MARCH 09, 2016
IntroductionThank you, Connie, for your kind introduction. It is great to be here at the CDFI Institute. I want to express my gratitude to the CDFI Coalition for inviting me to speak and for your support for the CDFI Fund and the CDFI industry over the y (...)
Keynote Address by Director Annie Donovan at the 2015 CDFI Coalition Institute
FEBRUARY 24, 2015
Thank you, Ray, for your kind words. I also would like to thank the CDFI Coalition for giving me this opportunity to speak, and for their longstanding support for the CDFI Fund and the CDFI industry. It is an honor and a pleasure for me to join you here (...)
Read more speeches by Annie Donovan
The CDFI Fund's Guiding Principles
MARCH 09, 2016
Today I spoke at the 2016 CDFI Coalition Institute to discuss the CDFI Fund's recent accomplishments and our upcoming objectives. You can read my full speech here, but I wanted to take a moment to emphasize an important development for the CDFI Fund that (...)
CDFI Fund Retires CIIS-Compliance Reporting is Now Live in AMIS
SEPTEMBER 04, 2018
Earlier this summer, the CDFI Fund announced that it was integrating award recipient reporting into the Award Management Information System (AMIS). I am very happy to report that the transition is now complete and the Community Investment Impact System (C (...)
The Impact of Community Investing
MAY 25, 2017
One of the most energizing aspects of my job as director of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) is engaging with a diverse array of stakeholders who care about creating economic opportunity in distressed communities and telli (...)